February 10, 1917: Birth of Superior siren Dorothy Blaine

On this day across the bay in 1917, Dorothy O’Kash—future club singer Dorothy Blaine—was born into a rough-and-tumble family living in the rooms above the Blue Moon, her parents’ bar on North Third Street in Superior’s notorious waterfront district. According to biographer Judith Liebaert, “Dorothy’s only notoriety in Superior circles today is as the eccentric and somewhat-reclusive younger sister to Molly (O’Kash ) Muench (aka Molly Spaun), owner of Superior’s legendary Molly’s Bar. Only a very few know that Dorothy Blaine led a life of glamour, singing in the best clubs on the New York circuit, rubbing elbows with the likes of Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and other celebrities of that age.” Growing up in Superior, Dorothy sang with the glee club throughout high school and frequently performed leading roles in dramatic productions. While a senior, she won an amateur-night prize at a local club, the Heidleberg at Eighth Street and Tower Avenue. She was asked back for several return engagements and before long she was singing in clubs on both sides of the bridge, including Duluth’s Flame and The Ritz in Superior. In 1937 she left Superior to accept an engagement at Milwaukee’s Blue Moon Café, and her career took off after that. While Dorothy’s singing career soared throughout the 1940s and ’50s, she stopped performing by 1960. There’s much more to the life of Dorothy Blaine, and you can read it in Liebaert’s biography, here.